About Krefting Research Centre

Asthma and allergy research has been conducted over several decades at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. In the 1960s, this research was conducted primarily by physicians, in addition to their routine clinical work and was mainly basic clinical research. Gradually this research has been professionalised and the university-based research has evolved and grown to a great extent. Lately, asthma and allergy research at the Sahlgrenska Academy and the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, has achieved considerable international recognition, thanks in part to research conducted with the help of financial contributions from the Herman Krefting Foundation for Allergy and Asthma Research.

There is a close and fruitful cooperation between the university-based research conducted at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and the health-related activities conducted at the Lung and Allergy Clinic at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. There is also vital and creative asthma and allergy research in paediatrics being conducted at the Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital. In addition, there are also smaller research and development units in asthma and allergy at other hospitals in the Västra Götaland region and at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

A donation by the Herman Krefting Foundation for Allergy and Asthma Research, enables further clinical research to be conducted in asthma and allergy. The founder of the VBG GROUP, Herman Krefting, started suffering from asthma during his teenage years. Successfully treated at the Sahlgrenska Hospital, he lived a normal life with great creativity and a proactive nature, even after 80 years of age. He realised early the value of research and development in several areas, including technology and medicine. Some of his shares in the company were assigned to the Herman Krefting Foundation for Allergy and Asthma Research. The foundation's purpose is to promote scientific research on asthma with a primary focus on the clinical treatment of asthma. Initially, scholarships were given in relatively modest amounts to individual researchers. As the company expanded, the contributions from the foundation increased dramatically, and for almost 10 years the foundation has funded two research professorships, including research funds, at the Department of Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy.